The Musser Group goes "Green" with Ceelite Investment

Ceelite LLC, a company that has developed light-emitting capacitor lighting, has raised $4 million in an unclassified round of funding.

The Musser Group provided the majority of the funds for the round, which closed Monday, with other undisclosed private investors also participating.

Michael Carter, managing director at The Musser Group, declined to provide a valuation for the round but did say Ceelite's revenue is in the single-digit millions range.

The Blue Bell, Pa.-based company, which was founded in 2004, sells illuminated panels that are based on light-emitting capacitor technology, which can turn any surface into a light source. The company's lighted panels are used for bus advertising, retail window signage, street intersection signage and tradeshow design, among other applications. Currently a panel can be as large as three feet by six feet and consume a very small amount of energy, according to the Web site.

This round of funding will be used for working capital as well as to open a new manufacturing plant in the Philadephia area in 2008. The company currently operates a plant in Hsinchu, Taiwan.

Carter said he would like to see the funds last the company to profitability but declined to say when he expected that to occur.

Carter said the company has more than 55 patents which was one of the reasons the firm chose to invest in Ceelite. It is the first green technology investment the firm has made, but Carter said he doesn't expect it to be the last.

Prior to this round of funding, the 90-employee company has raised approximately $5.5 million in seed funds from company management and undisclosed private investors, Carter said.

http://www.ceelite.com